Many modern pharmacies continue to store their bulk pharmaceutical inventory on open shelves. These shelves are usually stocked and accessible by multiple technicians, clerks, and pharmacists. Such shelving arrangements are an inefficient use of space and make accurate monitoring of inventory challenging. Additionally, tracking the usage of particular prescription medication and determining when that medication needs restocking takes deliberate attention despite the use of currently available automated inventory monitoring systems. Currently available inventory monitoring systems are often inaccurate because such systems rely on assumptions. Further, even when such systems are used, unauthorized persons may have access to and misappropriate or mishandle the inventory.
As shown in FIG. 1, a typical pharmacy workflow generally includes three processes: (1) a front end process; (2) a filling process; and (3) a storage, selling, verification of prescription accuracy, and consulting with customer process. The front end process generally includes a clearinghouse aspect and drug utilization review where an intake worker receives insurance information, verifies that the prescription is valid, and inputs the necessary information into the pharmacy management system. The filling process includes filling a prescription by a pharmacy technician or pharmacist who obtains a bottle of medication from the shelf, pours the medication on a counting pad, counts the appropriate number of pills, pours the pills into a vial, labels the vial, prints the supporting consumer medication information, bags the vial and literature, and places the bag in a dispensing area. The third process includes a pharmacist verifying that the correct medication is in the customer vial when compared to the prescription, collecting money from the customer for the prescription, and consulting with the customer regarding usage and side effects of the medication. If a pharmacist has not already discussed the medication with the customer, a pharmacist must offer to do so during this third process in accordance with the State Board of Pharmacy regulations.